‘Summons won’t stifle Kejriwal’s voice, cadre backing him’: AAP

They then staged a protest around 11.15 am near Golf Links, declaring they will not leave the spot until Kejriwal comes out.

Calling the probe into the excise case “fake”, Mann said the same policy was implemented in Punjab and gave the state revenue growth of 41.1% in just one year. “The entire AAP cadre is standing behind Kejriwal and these summons will not be able to stifle his voice. We don’t fear arrest; jail is not a new place for us. We are honest people, let them do whatever they want,” he said.

Singh alleged, “The CBI-ED is forcefully taking statements at gunpoint from people like Sameer Mahendru (businessman and one of the accused in the case) and others, and is forcing them to become witness and approver against (former deputy CM) Manish Sisodia. Now, they have summoned Kejriwal ji. But they won’t be able to do anything; they cannot stop him and AAP.”

Condemning the CBI summons, AAP chief spokesperson and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the fight of the PM is not against corruption but “fear against the growth of AAP”. “It thinks that through intimidation and fear, it can silence the opposition’s voice, which is not good for the country,” he added.

Around 2.50-3 pm, around 15 AAP members, including senior leaders, were detained and taken to Najafgarh police station. Chadha alleged, “Delhi Police has arrested us for sitting peacefully and is taking us to some unknown place… what kind of dictatorship is this?”

At the police station, Finance Minister Gahlot said, “We were sitting silently in support of Kejriwal ji but the Delhi Police detained us and forcefully took us to the police station. Is this democracy? The Constitution and democracy have been reduced to nothing… a citizen cannot have his right to protest.”

Meanwhile, expressing apprehension over Kejriwal’s arrest, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai called an emergency meeting at the party’s DDU Marg office. He alleged that 32 MLAs and 70 councillors were arrested in different parts of the city, adding that 20 legislators from Punjab were stopped at the Delhi border. Over 1,500 party workers, including leaders and ministers, were detained, he claimed.

The leaders were released around 8.30 pm when Kejriwal’s questioning ended, an AAP leader said.

Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said, “The Delhi Police has acted in a professional manner and facilitated adequate security arrangements. We will ensure the gatherings are safe and secure… Action will be taken as per law.”

A senior police officer said, “There was no prior request about the protests… which led to obstruction of traffic, peace and tranquillity. They were asked to leave and were removed but many of them resisted. As per procedure, they were detained. Since the number of detainees was large, they were shifted to different police stations in Dwarka, South and Outer Delhi.”

AAP’s Punjab unit rushes to Delhi

Along with their Delhi counterparts, several Punjab Cabinet ministers, MLAs and volunteers staged a dharna in the national capital. Those who were stopped sat on the road at Singhu border and raised slogans against the BJP government.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh in a tweet alleged: “MLAs, ministers, volunteers who were peacefully travelling to Delhi were stopped, illegally detained, followed by brutal lathi charge on unarmed peaceful people. We had to do CPR & rush the injured to hospital to save lives…”

Delhi Police denied the allegations.

Cabinet minister Harjot Singh Bains, however, managed to reach the CBI office and said, “Our convoy reached Delhi, we were stopped by police on the border. When we asked them why we were stopped, no reason was given to us… I changed my vehicle and managed to reach Delhi.”

(inputs from ENS, Chandigarh)